Swissmar Lugano Cheese 9 Piece Fondue Set, Red Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I ordered the Swissmar and the Le Crueset fondue because I wanted to compare the two. I was willing to pay the higher price for the Le Crueset if the quality and design etc. where there. After seeing both items, I will be keeping the the Swissmar. For full disclosure, I have not used either unit yet.
Swissmar:
The bowl is wide and shallow. Can use the bowl on the stove to start the melting process. Old school design, very traditional type of fondue set I guess you could say. Dual use burner; can use either alcohol or gel. The handle on the bowl is hollowed out underneath. In other words, the round handle is not solid. This is probably to help with the weight of the bowl because it is pretty heavy. The forks are long and have three prongs; the handles are wood and are black or very very dark brown. The handles do not have colored ends; they do not have any way to identify them for individual use. The iron stand and base are attached, they are one. The stand and base have a sort of antiqued look to it; the black on the stand I think is meant to look aged, or antiqued. The burner has a protective rubber housing on the handle so you won't burn your hand while touching the burner. The burner has "Swissmar" embossed on the handle. I happen to like seeing the Swissmar label on the stand. Moderate price.
Le Crueset:
The bowl is tall and deep. Can use the bowl on the stove to start the melting process. The set is much more contemporary and sleek. It requires a trivet or something for the unit to sit on because the metal stand gets hot. It mentions this in the instructions. The bowl rests tight and secure on the metal stand. The fork handles are a light wood with colored tips to identify individual forks; the forks have only two prongs. The burner is not dual use; it only burns alcohol. The burner cannot be removed from the stand with the bowl in place. The bowl has to be off the stand to take out the burner. High price tag.
While I tend to prefer simple and contemporary which is why I wanted to check out the Le Crueset, in this case I just couldn't justify the price tag of $150.00 vs. 85.00. Plus, I really liked that the Swissmar offered the dual purpose burner to allow fondues for both oil (alcohol> high heat) and cheese/chocolate (gel> lower heat). And actually, for fondue, I kind of like the Swissmar unit in that it looks (to me) more traditional and classic. I may be slightly persuaded of this because when I was recently in Sun Valley, and had lunch on top of Baldy at the Roundhouse, the fondue they served was in a Swissmar unit.

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Cheese fondue is an ancient andinteresting Swiss dish, fun to serve and enjoyable to eat.Authentic cheese fondue uses Swiss cheeses melted in Swiss wine.Today, cheese fondue ingredients are available already prepared in many grocery stores across the

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